Orlando Jewish Day School to compete in National Spelling Bee and Hour of Code

Participants in the Orlando Jewish Day School Spelling Bee proudly display their medals.

Effort will always lead to success. Believe anything else, and you are believing a falsehood. The Talmud states, "if someone says I worked hard but was not successful, don't believe him." This famous adage is part of the inner fabric that makes up the instructional aspect of Orlando Jewish Day School (OJDS). It is taught to the students at a young age to instill within them the desire to work hard, and the knowledge that if they try, they truly can succeed at anything.

On Jan. 15, at OJDS, this phrase was put to the test. Thirty contestants competed in an elementary school spelling bee. Each participant stood on stage and competed by level until only one student remained. The young winner, fifth-grader Esther Menoni, will continue her competition at a national level.

The exciting events are not over though, and students are already looking forward to the next one: Hour of Code. OJDS will be hosting an open session during which students from all schools can join to learn how to write code. They will be taught how to program computer games or simple computer commands.

The school's director, Chani Konikov, values the experience the students will gain by learning about writing code in such a hands-on way.

"Computer science is an instrumental part of our future. Our children must have a real knowledge about it and feel comfortable experimenting in the field," stated Konikov. She believes it is important to make the session an open one so that each student in her school sees they are part of a larger academic community. The tolerance and respect that comes from doing shared events with the academic community beyond OJDS helps its students feel connected, and further inspires their belief that with hard work, their dreams are within reach.